Sunday, August 30, 2015

I swear I only sat down for 5 minutes - I think I fell asleep this morning while I was firing the kiln - something I dont do - should have worn the timer or set it - but normally I am hovering over the kiln when I am firing paints/frit as it does not need to go to full fuse - well this mornings did - I caught it at 1650 - the paint bubbled and burned off in places - the frit just melted together white areas took on the oranges etc - O well the more you make something the better you get at it - plus it helped with doing the frits

Saturday, August 29, 2015

I went to get gas and spotted a drafting table - for free - ran got gas and pulled in and tried to fit it in the jeep - its the first time I couldn't stuff something in - called, text , called her home but I could not reach my daughter - she has a truck - the guy was nice enough to put to the side for me - drove right to my daughters (only 5 minutes away) (they were not up as yet) then we drove down and brought it home -
Its huge - its wonderful !!!!! and it was FREE FREE FREE- it may be missing a few things but I now have this huge table to work on !

I love my Premo primer , I love my fiber shelves - I have used molds with the primo primer and it works well - but over the years I have not been fusing with molds a product came out called Boron Nitride spray - that you spray a thin coat onto your stainless steel and your ceramic molds - I have never tried it but it looks like so many people are using it so I decided to get some -
When I purchase items like this I figure out where I can get it with shipping cost - then figure out the qty to make the shipping value worth it etc - to buy 1 and have the freight cost be ethe same as buying 12 then I'll invest on getting 12 - I bought a case - (finally another item made in Canada) since made in Canada freight was not so bad and the price was right ! M K Impex is the mfg of the Lower Friction brand of the Boron Nitride Spray

It arrived yesterday

I have been inventorying my molds - of which I have quite a number of - after going through them - then realizing I am still mising some - bottle slumper, large split leg slumper and a big square plate slumper - I've looked all over and cant find them - I know I bought them - I know I saw them when I moved them up to the studio - now I just have to find wher I may have tucked them into ......

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

My colors for my tiger face came in on friday (while I was on a vacation day of course) and I brought home last night -
I need to make samples of the colors ranging from 1 layer to 4 layers to see the depth of color for when I add to my glass

I cut and made clear glass bases and then proceeded to sift one layer - lay a piece of paper over one end - then another layer - moved the paper down - then another layer etc... you get the drift

normally I would paint but with frit I need to see the depth of the frit and see what color come from the layers I apply - this could turn out to be a really bad image when I finish but I havnt done it in so long I must give it a try

I love making samples - so tonight I am going to keep going and do all my bullseye so I have all my samples ready - I will write with my glass ink on each showing the bullseye color and code and refire later

Saturday, August 15, 2015

I have always done painted glass all with reushce or other enamels but wanted to try with some frit

I admired a glass piece a very long ago at Warner Crivilerro in Allentonw (glass supplier) and wanted to do a piece -

I havnt really painted for quite some time maybe over 12 years - yes I've done screen printing, some small bead or fused pieces but not a project where I painted the trace lines then did shading

so I started by getting pic of a tiger on line - then manipulating it in photoshop - using the brightness and contrast to get different sheets made up

got the light box out and started - my clove mix and pen nib and started painting
I printed out the one print that showed the best outlines and used the pen/ink method I use to paint on glass - could have used brushes but I like the pen

the above face after firing

then for shading /shadow I mix the reushe (same as my ink mix) but this time with water and make a thin liquidy black material -that I apply completely over the painting (on the painted side) and then brush with my badger brush to get a smooth even layer (see left side of image below)

then using another print that shows some more shading - I start to remove the thin coating

Here is piece still sitting on print copy (can look better as there is still shading from the copy )

Here it is dry and ready to go in the kiln sitting on white background

Fired and sitting on white fiber paper

its better to take too much off on the first round as you can do another reaply and remove tillyou get the shading where you want it

Monday, August 10, 2015

I was very enthused when I saw a fish done with the fiber on paper - unfortunately the mold for it is 19" and the biggest kiln I have at this time is 12" so I have to think about that big kiln again - I so want to make big bowls and even sinks (I have the slumping molds for both) so I need a kiln greater than 19" or more - I have a local kiln maker called Tuckers that makes great kilns - and this would save me money in shipping as I can pick up - I will have to work this out and see how it goes - but I probably wont get one till next spring - too many things around the house need fixing

so comparatively what I did this weekend was to make some basic tiny fish - compared to the 19" - so minnows

from bottom - painted clear cap - drawing - two powder on fiber paper - note that I realized I had to do it backwards as I like the paint reversed so I had to make two and then painted another to match

still in the kiln but the bottom one was superb

this is just the painted cap on the fused powder on paper with some fill powder before firing